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Easier said than done...
Dave,
For some arm joints, the initial size limitations (2.5ft by 3 ft by 5 ft) allows for the arm to start with its GC in the highest position so that the spring energy can be at its minimum, but for the most part, this is not possible.
I am not saying that we cannot get a system to work without counterbalance or even that effective counterbalance is impossible within the current rule structure. I am only saying that it is much more difficult.
For my part, I am not willing to wait to see if we can turn FIRST around on this ruling, so I have already designed in a way to make our machine work without relief.
I believe that it is a much bigger problem for teams without clever sheep like myself ;-)
The MAIN reason I bring this up is that I believe that, to the extent that fewer teams use effective counterbalance or that teams just ignore the rule, the FIRST community is moving in the wrong direction.
Comments welcome...
Joe J.
Last edited by Joe Johnson : 16-01-2003 at 15:52.
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